


Smoothies, Tea and Coffee

by old_and_new_friends



Series: Mako's Lovers [8]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Background Character Injury, Caffeine Addiction, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Relationship Study, Studying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29178393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/old_and_new_friends/pseuds/old_and_new_friends
Summary: In quiet moments, Mako sometimes contemplates on the men he fell in love with. He comes to some interesting conclusions sometimes and falls even more in love with them.
Relationships: Iroh II/Mako (Avatar), Iroh II/Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar), Iroh II/Prince Wu (Avatar), Mako/Prince Wu (Avatar)
Series: Mako's Lovers [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2095230
Comments: 1
Kudos: 13





	Smoothies, Tea and Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> I might as well just sell my soul to my rare triad at this point. This ship and Makrohsami are going to kill me.

Mako slipped his arm around Wu's shoulder as the two walked through the Ba Sing Se Mini Mall. Wu had his sunglasses on as they walked. Mako's own were tucked over his shirt.

Wu's opposite hand was tucked into Iroh's back pocket but the other man didn’t seem to upset about it. Mako personally hated when people did that to him.

"The whole thing is getting ridiculous," Wu said, gesturing with his free arm between him and Mako. "I just want this whole shift of power to be over with so I don't have to deal with it anymore."

"See, my mom and I were talking about shifting the Fire Nation to a democracy rather than handing over the Crown to me but watching you struggle makes me not want to do that," Iroh said. Mako felt a hand tap against his hip and realized Iroh had wrapped his arm around Wu’s back. Mako felt Iroh’s shoulder press against his own fingers, as the other man squished Wu between them.

"It'll be less stressful in the long run," Mako assured. "In a few months, the monarchy will be gone and you won't have any obligations to anyone."

"Well other than us," Iroh joked, smiling at them. Iroh’s smiles were always interesting as they were usually only tilted up on the one side. It was something the royal family was prone to, apparently.

"Sounds nice," Wu said, his voice heavy.

“It will be,” Mako assured.

“And, it will be better for everyone involved,” Iroh added.

“Provided nothing like last time happens,” Wu muttered.

“Don’t worry about that,” Mako said, waving away the whole Guan situation. “We’ve got safe guards in place now and no one is rushing anything.”

“This will work, Wu,” Iroh said, squeezing the man slightly.

Wu nodded and, in his typical fashion when things got too serious for him to process easily, changed the subject. 

"Oh! Smoothies! Can we get some?” Wu asked, as his eyes caught on a shop store front.

Mako watched Wu's eyes light up, something that had been happening with less frequency over the past few months. Wu may have been making a joking fuss about the exchange of power, but Mako knew it wore him out more than he let on.

"Sure," Mako said. "Let's go."

Wu didn’t wait for Mako to finish talking before he was dragging them over to the smoothie shop that sat outside the mini mall.

Iroh glanced at Mako over Wu's head and the two of them traded a humored glance. Mako could still tell that Iroh was as worried as him for Wu, but they knew better than to push him.

"Can I get a Berry Berry, a Mango Me Crazy, and a Bananza Berry smoothie?" Wu said, stepping forward towards the counter.

Iroh tapped Mako's shoulder before moving over to a table at the side. Mako nodded and when the drinks were set down, he grabbed Iroh's while Wu picked up Mako's and his own.

"You Mango me crazy," Mako said, sliding the drink over to Iroh.

Iroh rolled his eyes as Wu placed Mako's smoothie down. "Well, you make me Berry Bananas for you," Wu said, sliding the drink towards Mako.

Mako laughed, before taking a sip of his drink.

"You two are so Berry, Berry dorky," Iroh said, readjusting his wrist watch before leaning back in his seat.

Wu pointed at Iroh, but had to pause to swallow before he could say anything. "I heard that," Wu said.

"You heard nothing," Iroh stated, mixing his own smoothie.

Mako tapped Iroh's leg under the table and Iroh winked over at him.

"So, where to after this?" Mako asked.

"I need a new pair of boots," Iroh said. "The sole broke off the other pair."

"Oh," Wu said, grabbing Iroh's arm. "I need new shoes too."

"You don't," Iroh corrected, "but something tells me we are going to end up buying you some anyway."

"I bet you, we get so bogged down with Wu's shoes we completely forget yours," Mako said.

"That's a sucker's bet," Iroh said. 

Mako pouted at the same time as Wu.

"I will not," Wu whined.

Iroh leaned over and dropped a kiss in Wu's hair.

Mako smiled to himself as Wu pushed Iroh away. Iroh put more effort into trying to kiss Wu who couldn't stop laughing even as he tried avoid it.

Mako drank the last of his smoothie as the two continued playing.

"Are you two ready to leave?" Mako asked, more than aware that they weren't.

Iroh jerked away and chugged his smoothie as Wu stared at Mako with pleading eyes.

"You do know, we can take the smoothies with us, right?" Mako said. "The shoe store lets you take food in. Iroh took an ice cream cone in there last week."

"Oh right," Wu said. "What would we do without you, big guy?"

"Get brain freeze," Mako said, glancing over at Iroh who was clutching his head between his hands.

"Now you tell me," Iroh said.

Mako rolled his eyes as he threw his and Iroh's empty cups in the trash.

Wu practically skipped ahead of them with his smoothie. Mako couldn't help but think the fruity and refreshing drink fit the other man well. 

\---

When Mako got home, he found Iroh face down on the sofa as Wu pet through his hair. Wu looked up at him with a mournful look on his face. Mako realized almost immediately that, even faced down, Iroh was crying.

Mako dropped his bag by the door and kicked off his shoes. He nearly tripped over them as he rushed to join the two men on the sofa.

"Iroh," Mako said, crouching next to the sofa and resting his hand on Iroh's back. He ran soothing circles over Iroh’s spine. "What's wrong?"

Iroh coughed slightly before sitting up and looking over at Mako. His face was splotchy and tear streaked while his eyes were bloodshot.

Iroh sniffed slightly before speaking. "My grandfather was in a car accident," Iroh said, his voice hoarse. "The man never rides in one but the one time he does so, this happens. Mom called to tell me but said he's out cold and won't wake up. She said she'd call when he did but it's been three hours and she hasn't called back yet."

Iroh’s voice gave out on the last word and Mako felt his stomach drop. Iroh was extremely close with his grandfather, Lord Zuko. The two had been attached at the hip Iroh’s whole childhood, and even now the two traded a constant stream of letters and phone calls. 

If he died, not only would it be a terrible loss for the world, but it would emotionally ruin Iroh.

Mako licked his lips and looked over at Wu. Wu's eyes were cloudy with their own tears. Mako was sure the helplessness he saw there was reflected in his own eyes.

Mako pressed a kiss to Iroh's forehead before sliding the man towards Wu. Wu opened his arms to wrap them around Iroh.

Iroh leaned into the comfort and watched as Mako slipped from the room. Mako shushed him as he made a questioning noise.

Mako entered their kitchen and set the teapot on the stove. It took him longer than it normally did to make it, but Mako took the time to make it the way Iroh preferred, rather than the instant stuff they made for the sake of their morning time crunch.

The act of slowly seeping the tea actually helped Mako calm down himself and the smell that slowly filled the kitchen cleared his head. They would get through this, even if the worst happened.

With the tea done, Mako pulled the pot from the stove and placed three cups down on a serving tray.

He struggled with the door but eventually got it open without dropping the tray.

Iroh was shaking slightly in Wu's arms from crying. Mako placed the tea tray on the coffee table before squeezing in beside the other two men.

He poured the three cups, handing Iroh and Wu one before grabbing his own. Mako lifted it to his lips and let the taste of jasmine tea float across his tongue.

Iroh started crying harder, and Mako worried for a moment that he had made things worse, but Iroh simply drank the tea as he cuddled down in between Mako and Wu. Mako had chosen it without thought, knowing it was the tea that was often served when Lord Zuko came to visit. At least, Iroh seemed to be taking comfort from it, rather than becoming more upset.

Mako didn't let Iroh's cup go empty, even when it meant that he had to stand to go make some more.

An hour later the phone rang and Iroh nearly upended the coffee table as he ran over to answer it.

"General Iroh," Iroh said. Iroh's eyes jumped around the room as he listened to what the person on the other side of the line said. "Okay, thanks Ursa. Yeah, I love you too and you tell Granddad he's not allowed to do things like this ever again."

Iroh laughed slightly. It was a little watery but genuine.

Iroh hung up before collapsing on the sofa. Mako didn't complain even as Iroh's weight crushed his feet.

"He woke up," Iroh said. "Other than a concussion, he should be just fine. His memory is a bit shaken up but they aren't too concerned about it for now. If it doesn't come back in a day or two then they will look into it."

"That's great!" Wu said, launching himself over Mako’s lap to wrap himself around Iroh.

"I'm glad he's okay," Mako said, resigned to his boyfriends crushing him. "Now that all this excitement is over, how about we go to bed?"

"Sounds good," Iroh said, standing. He took Wu with him, laughing slightly as Wu wrapped himself around his back.

Iroh reached for the tea tray. "I'll clean this up, you two go get cozy and I'll join you in a bit. Make it worth my while,” he said, titling his head towards Wu as he winked obnoxiously.

Mako rolled his eyes but nodded. He lifted Wu from Iroh’s back, not even bothered, when Wu latched onto him instead. Apparently, someone was in a cuddly mood. 

He glanced over at Iroh as they left for separate rooms. Mako couldn't help but think the subtle but flora drink suited the soft hearted but flirty man.

\---

Mako's head lulled down towards his textbook. He jerked upright when he realized and rubbed his eyes before focusing back on the book even as the words blurred.

This history class was going to kill him, but Mako needed it to be able to take his equivalency exams. Lin had already said, if he wished to move further up the ladder, he'd need a college degree. Some jobs in the force couldn’t be done without them.

Mako didn't even have a secondary school degree. He had never gone, let alone finished. Now he was making up for it, but long hours of work, followed by night classes and studying, meant Mako operated on caffeine alone.

He had drunk so much coffee at this point that Mako could practically smell it, even though the cup on his desk was long empty.

He startled when a mug was placed next to him and a kiss was pressed into his hair.

"Finish re-reading this chapter," Iroh said. "Then you need to sleep."

"Oh! I can quiz you instead!" Wu said, pulling the textbook to him. "We can see what you retained. My degree is in history, who better to teach you!"

Mako blinked up at them, surprised to find them in his office. They usually left him alone as they did their own work, Iroh spread out over the coffee table in the living room and Wu kicked back in the dinning room with a plate of food.

He glanced at the clock and felt his stomach sink. It was two in the morning. They should be in bed.

“Mako,” Wu said, waving his hand in his face, “quiz?”

Mako rubbed his eyes again and nodded, releasing the book over to Wu. They clearly weren’t going to leave him alone, so he’d just let them regret it in the morning.

Mako’s lips twitch up into a smile when he slowly realized that every time Mako got the answer correct Wu and Iroh both would place a kiss on his cheek.

Eventually Wu ran out of questions and Mako ran out of coffee. Iroh was quick to put up both the textbook and the mug as Wu corralled Mako into their bedroom.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep," Mako argued. "I just drank a whole mug of coffee. I might as well keep studying."

Contrary to what Mako said, he let out a huge yawn.

The look Wu shot him was unimpressed. "Sure, Mako, you're the picture of wakefulness," Wu said.

"I hope I'm not becoming immune to caffeine," Mako said. "I shouldn't be sleepy."

"Actually, you should," Iroh said, joining Wu in trying to force Mako to bed. "I gave you decaf. Tricked you into being wakeful but nothing to actually keep you up. You need to sleep. The last thing we need is for you to get hurt at work."

"We're worried about you," Wu said. "You walk around like you're half dead now and days."

Mako looked between his two boyfriends and realized the two were serious. Iroh had his arms crossed as he frowned sternly at Mako, while Wu's eyes were wide with concern and nearly begging Mako to take care of himself.

Mako sighed. "I'm sorry," Mako said. "I know I've developed some unhealthy habits while going back to school but I don't know what else to do."

Iroh and Wu traded glances.

"Well," Iroh said, slowly, as he trailed off into nothing.

"Keep in mind, boo-bear, that we aren't trying to say you can't handle it. We are just saying you shouldn't have too alone," Wu said quickly.

Mako nodded, though now he was really suspicious of what they were up to.

"Right," Iroh said, "basically we think you should talk to Lin about maybe working only part time. Then you can study between work and class and have time after to sleep."

"But I need to work," Mako said, crossing his arms. "I need the money."

Iroh and Wu traded another glance.

"No," Mako said, already knowing what was coming next.

"Please," Iroh said, weakly. "Only until you get your degree. Please, for our peace of mind if not your own. Mako, Wu and I both have been losing just as much sleep helping you study and worrying about you."

"Ro's right Mako," Wu said. "I've been having nightmares of a phone call because you fell asleep on patrol or something."

Mako looked between his boyfriends again, this time noticing the deep bags under their eyes that matched his own

Mako sighed.

"Okay," Mako said. "I'll go part time and freeload off of you two until I get my degree."

"It's not freeloading," Iroh said, rolling his eyes. "We live together, you stubborn man."

"You'll thank us later when your body doesn't jitter from lack of caffeine," Wu Joked.

"I'm surprised he hasn't turned into coffee," Iroh said. “His blood content has to be half caffeine at this point.”

Mako huffed slightly. He agreed to their strong-arming and they repaid him by picking on him. The ungrateful asses.

"I don't know," Wu joked. "He is a little bit bitter."

Mako crawled into bed as he ignored his ridiculous boyfriends comparing him to a drink. He wasn’t turning into coffee. That was just dumb.

**Author's Note:**

> Next Weeks Fic: Makrohsami - The Other Firebender - Mako starts feeling insecure in the face of Asami and Iroh's friendship. Turns out, he was reading the situation wrong, very wrong.


End file.
